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I am very excited to announce Security Systems News’ Cloud+ 2017 conference education program, which can be found here. The show is Nov. 28-29, and back at the beautiful and relaxing Lost Pines Resort in the tech-savvy city of Austin, Texas.

This year’s education program is expanded, as we strive to be the education destination for those who are pioneering within the cloud community, which is revolutionizing security today.

As you look through this year’s program it will quickly become apparent that “Selling the Cloud” is an underlying theme for the conference, as sessions will look at how integrators, specifiers, dealers, suppliers—anyone looking to increase revenue and profits while providing cost-effective solutions with a high ROI—are leveraging cloud technology and computing with great success. Some of the leading integrators in the industry will uncover how they are transitioning from the traditional sales model to a more managed services model that increases RMR and lowers creation cost.

And subject matter experts from the leading cloud solution and services providers in the industry will not only be there on panels to share best practices and the latest advances and research, but also many will be exhibiting, so you can dive in deeper and get face to face with the top cloud companies working in security today.

There are also cloud-centered sessions looking at the rise of smarter, safer cities and the potential there for the security industry; cybersecurity in the cloud; how to hire IT-savvy employees who can talk cloud; and much more!

The global smart home market is forecast to exceed $14 billion in 2017, with 10 percent of homes globally being smart by 2025, according to an IHS Markit report published this week.

“The smart home market has seen significant growth since 2010, when fewer than 0.5 percent of homes in the Americas region had connected devices such as thermostats, lighting, security and entertainment,” Blake Kozak, principal analyst, IHS Technology, said in a summary of the report. “By the end of 2017, nearly 7 percent of households in the region will have a connected home, averaging six devices per home.”

According to IHS, The global market for smart homes is currently worth $14.7 billion, with the Americas region representing 48 percent of global revenues, and by 2021, the EMEA region will represent the largest portion of device revenue with a 42 percent global share.

“When excluding large ticket items, such as major appliances, the global market size for smart home devices is forecast to be worth $3.3 billion by the end of 2017, reaching $9.4 billion in 2021,” Kozak noted. “Although the EMEA and Americas regions are expected to represent more than 70 percent of revenues for smart devices over the next five years, Asia is expected to dominate in terms of unit shipments. In 2021, the Asia region is expected to represent about 46 percent of unit shipments. Leading the unit shipments in Asia in 2021 will include light bulbs, air quality sensors and video cameras.”

The report also found that the top five players account for 36 percent of revenue in the space, including Nest, Amazon, Honeywell, Xiaomi and Netgear, who rounded out the top five for smart home revenue accounting for 36 percent in 2016 when excluding appliances. The top five players for unit shipments in 2016 accounted for 34 percent of global unit shipments and included Xiaomi, Amazon, Honeywell, Nest and Koninklijke Philips N.V.

“Globally, 19 manufacturers had more than 500,000 annual smart home device shipments in 2016,” said Kosak, while “46 manufacturers had more than $10 million in revenue in 2016, when excluding appliances.”

The top smart home devices to watch in terms of unit shipment growth include radiator valves, air quality sensors, smart speakers and appliances.

“Home audio (smart speakers) will continue to be one of the most disruptive trends in smart home through 2021,” Kosak pointed out. “The primary reason voice assistants in the smart home will gain significant traction across all three regions is the ability for these devices to aggregate disparate systems. So instead of using five different mobile applications in order to control the smart home features, voice can be used to aggregate all control, reducing the need to interact with a mobile device once the product is setup.”

Although appliances were the fourth largest device type in terms of unit shipments in 2016, they will be the most shipped device type in 2021, according to IHS, which noted that many appliances are already embedded with Wi-Fi capabilities that only need to be turned on by the manufacturer.

ADR Security, a full-service electronic and physical security provider based in New York City, on Aug. 11 announced a new business: ADR Security Monitoring, a joint venture with Security Partners that caters to the specific security needs of high-end jewelers in New York City.

“What we were trying to do was figure out a way to go to market with a solution in the jewelry industry,” Peter Goldring, EVP and COO of ADR Security, told Security Systems News. ADR found that working with Security Partners provided the best outcome. “We’re going to be able to issue central station certificates here in the New York market, serviced out of New York,” said Goldring.

Security Partners operates four redundant, UL listed, TMA Five Diamond monitoring centers throughout the United States; in Lancaster, Pa., Anaheim, Calif., San Antonio and Las Vegas.

Goldring described ADR Security Monitoring as “an extension of a retail business that still has very deep roots into the wholesale, third party business. And, it—of course—will afford the opportunity for the other third party dealers to work with ADR Security monitoring, to partner with us, to issue certificates where necessary.”

This business differs from that of a traditional alarm dealer-monitoring center relationship. “ADRSM is the full-circle approach, the operator is able to take service requests, is able to dispatch the runner. Everything is in house, under the roof of Security Partners’ facilities, helping us with the day-to-day operation of the business. So, it really is a much more intense relationship, but it truly is a partnership,” Goldring said.

“We believe there is a huge, underserved market for certificate service – bigger than ever before – and this is a great opportunity for us to partner with a strong, independent and financially solid company like ADR Security,” Patrick Egan, founder of Security Partners, said in a prepared statement.

ADRSM’s announcement mentioned the possibility of expanding after establishing a presense in New York’s Diamond District, and the company is exploring locations for its next markets. “The next two most significant markets are in California, in Los Angeles, … and then of course there’s a fairly large industry in Las Vegas, with a number of jewelry stores and high-end boutiques that often requires the certifications,” Goldring said. “Those are probably the next areas that we’ll jump into.”

PITTSBURGH—Vector Security announced in early August that Newport News, Va., is now live with Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). Newport News joins other municipalities in the state of Virginia using ASAP, such as the City of Richmond, James City County, York County, and Henrico County.

The ASAP to PSAP program, created by The Monitoring Association—formerly CSAA—and the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials automates communication between alarm monitoring central stations and 911 centers.

Transmitting alarm information digitally results in improved accuracy and faster emergency responses by eliminating the need for communication over the phone between PSAP centers and monitoring centers.

Vector Security was the first alarm company to use ASAP in the City of Richmond, Va. in 2012. Vector Security assisted with implementation in Newport News by helping to perform extensive testing prior to the system going live.

“Alarm users in Newport News, including several hundred Vector Security customers, will benefit from faster and more accurate emergency response with the implementation of ASAP,” Anita Ostrowski, vice president of central station services at Vector Security, said in a prepared statement. “We hope the positive impact that ASAP will bring to Newport News will encourage other major 911 centers in the nation to adopt this technology as well.”

Ostrowski continued, “As a security provider, we seek ways to promote ASAP’s value to municipalities and public agencies, and help other alarm companies implement it for the greater good of the industry and the safety of our communities.”

Other municipalities that have implemented ASAP include Houston and High Point, TX; Washington D.C.; James City County, York County and Henrico County, Va.; Tempe and Chandler, Az.; Boca Raton, Fla.; Cary and Guilford County, N.C.; Kernersville and Durham County, N.C.; Johnston County, N.C.; Denton County and Grand Prairie, Texas; Morgan County, Ala.; Delaware County, Ohio; Bucks County, Pa.; and Highland Park, Texas.

The $600 million Interface Security Systems deal has sent—as The Beach Boys once sang—“good vibrations” throughout the security industry, as it provides not only a vote of confidence for what Interface is doing as a modern systems integration company, but also a vote of confidence in the security industry, in general, as companies like Interface represent a new breed of integrator that is staying at the forefront of new technology and innovation.

John E. Mack III, executive vice president, co-head of investment banking and mergers & acquisitions at Imperial Capital, which acted as financial advisor to Interface on the deal, astutely pointed out that this deal goes beyond validation of what Interface is doing in the space.

“This is a very cool story for the sophisticated new-age security provider, which is what Interface is—the 2.0 version of what the right kind of security player should be,” he told Security Systems News. “We spend so much time in this industry talking about the residential side of the business, which is interesting, but there is a massive opportunity on the commercial side of the business that Interface is tapping into that I think is a compelling theme.”

He continued, “There is a lot of validation for a very successful business model here that Prudential is putting up $180 million of new capital, and SunTx is putting up additional capital into the deal. And that you’ve got a very attractive set of debt investors, and just the fundamental backing for the business, is a meaningful part of a positive message for the industry.”

Jeff Frye, SVP for Interface, told SSN that the support from equity partners is not only a stamp of approval for what the company is doing, but the “capital gives us more fuel to build on our current, better than 15 percent compounded annual growth rate, so we know that we can do more with a little more gas in the tank and we are anxious to prove it.”

Frye noted that the equity will allow the company to expand its products and services around providing business intelligence, as security is becoming so much more than just, well, security.

“As a network provider, and a managed services provider of network services and cybersecurity services, we touch a lot of aspects of our customers’ businesses,” Frye explained. “And as a leading purveyor of Internet of Things services, we are able to aggregate intelligence from all of those sensors and data sources to bring actionable insights to a customer’s business. There are some new verticals that we would like to focus on more, including financial services and banking, so this makes that horizon much brighter and much more approachable.”

Allied Universal, a leading facility services company and one of the largest security forces in North America, marked its one-year anniversary this week after forming a year ago via the merger of AlliedBarton Security Services and Universal Services of America.

In the announcement, Steve Jones, Allied Universal CEO, thanked all of the company’s 150,000 employees and its clients “for their continued support and commitment that contributed to a phenomenal first year as our new company! I look forward to our continued success in the security and services industries."

Over the past year the company has made several acquisitions, as it continues to transform to a full-service security company, moving beyond the manguarding services the it has been known for.

Jones told Security Systems News, after the company’s most recent acquisition of ALERT Protective Services in May, that the company continues to look at acquisitions as a way to diversify its offerings.

“We’ve got a pretty robust pipeline of deals that we are looking at—some in the technology space and some in the traditional manguarding space—and we hope to announce a few more before the year is over that will help us to diversify our company and bring more value to our clients.”

In the press release announcing the one-year milestone, the company outlined some additional organizational achievements since the merger:

• Became the unequivocal leader in guarding services throughout North America. Our security professionals and our company play a major role in keeping the U.S. and Canada safe and secure.

• Provided service to over half of the Fortune 500 companies and nearly every major retail mall in the U.S. From healthcare facilities, commercial office buildings, manufacturing and industrial plants, residential communities, transportation facilities and government services, Allied Universal has a significant security presence.

• Managed the integration of a workforce of over 150,000 security professionals to perform our jobs on a daily basis and serve our growing customer base.

• Implemented a world-class training program, the AU Institute, which offers over 1,000 training assets and professional development programs to enhance our security professionals' delivery of service and protection.

• Introduced several technological innovations to expand our physical and operational security solutions and service offerings to enhance the protection of client properties and assets.

WILLIAMSTOWN, N.J.—COPS Monitoring, a brand under Lydia Security Monitoring, on July 27 announced its Grow Your Business roadshow, with seminars currently planned for Denver, Colo., Boca Raton, Fla., Salt Lake City and Williamstown, N.J., with more to be announced.

“The genesis of the seminars actually began with our UCC dealer customers; we started these … sometime in the 2015 time frame,” Ron Bowden, director of dealer development for Lydia’s UCC brand and leader of these seminars, told Security Systems News. The Grow Your Business seminars is an example of collaboration between COPS and UCC following Lydia Security Monitoring's acquisition of UCC in January 2016.

“The thought process is that we would put together a business class that worked in helping our dealers in certain areas of their business: in sales, in attrition control, in … installation efficiencies, compensations plans, sales recruiting. [These are] things that a small- to mid-sized business could take and apply in their business that could get immediate results without spending large sums of money,” Bowden said.

The seminars are not exclusive to COPS and UCC dealer customers, Bowden pointed out, and the workshops suit a range of dealers. “In our class [on Aug. 3], we had dealers that are small to just getting started, to people that have been in business twenty years that have a several-thousand account base,” he said. “I think the basics and the principles apply to all—it’s just how they’re used.”

“Since the beginning, COPS has been dedicated to supporting independent alarm dealers world-class monitoring along with the tools, services, and education they need to help them run their business and improve their bottom line,” David Smith, VP of marketing and business development at COPS, told SSN via email.

“Now that UCC is part of the Lydia team, Ron’s ‘Grow Your Business’ seminars seemed like a natural fit to our longstanding tradition of helping our dealers succeed. Though COPS and UCC continue to operate as separate brands, on separate monitoring platforms, and with separate management teams, we still learn from each other and share best practices – especially when it brings value to our dealers," Smith said.

The Grow Your Business seminars will teach dealers how they can increase sales with lead generation programs and other professional marketing services from My Studio [Pros], an agency dedicated to helping dealers of all sizes successfully grow their business in the security and smart home automation market.

PARK CITY, Utah—AvantGuard has several speakers lined up for its upcoming PERS Summit, to be held here Sept. 26-28, as well as some of the events.

This year’s PERS Summit will start with a tour of AvantGuard’s recently remodeled facility. “We’ve got about 25,000 square feet and three levels, and the building will be completely remodeled, inside and out, by the time the event starts. So, people will really get to see—hands on—how that monitoring of the PERS devices works,” Sonja Jorgenson, AvantGuard’s director of marketing, told Security Systems News.

Aron Ralston will be one of the conference’s keynote speakers. “His story is told in that movie, 127 hours,” Jorgenson noted. Ralston was exploring a Utah canyon when his arm got caught, forcing Ralston to amputate the limb.

One of the speakers will be Eric Allen, an attorney who can speak to certain marketing techniques. “His expertise is … issues that are raised when businesses are contacting customers through texting and automated calls. He really understands that, the regulations, and the new rules that are coming out in 2017.”

Laurie Orlov, another speaker at the conference, is focused on aging-in place. “She has an interesting background in technology, especially targeted to aging seniors,” Jorgenson said. “She’s going to share some predictions about what those technology trends are going to look like in 2017 and beyond.”

The Summit’s other speakers have not yet been announced.

“Then, every year, we have a panel of experts in the industry and we talk about a relevant issue. Last time, we talked about fall detection and [the panelists’] feelings about that, and where [the technology] was and if it was really helpful,” Jorgenson said. “We haven’t disclosed what that topic will be yet, but that panel discussion’s always a big talking point.”

Jorgenson said that AvantGuard hopes to give attendees more access to the presentations at this Summit, which will allow attendees to further review information after returning from the conference. “I think there will be a lot of information, … so, it’s a lot to digest in just a couple days,” she said.

The company also sends an anonymous survey to its dealers, which asks about a range of topics, including the software that dealers use or the types of customers dealers are seeing, AvantGuard marketing assistant Alex Flitton said. “We actually have a lot of really good feedback so far,” he told SSN. “All of this information will be compiled and interpreted by some of the experts in the industry, to present to our attendees.”

Networking is another benefit of the event, Flitton noted. “It just puts a lot of like-minded people in a really solid environment where they can interact,” he said.

The Summit will be held at The Chateaux Deer Valley in Park City, Utah. The conference has been here for each conference.

Over the past few years, the security industry has begun to embrace many new technologies—robotics, the cloud, biometrics, for example—but one company here in the U.S., Three Square Market, is pushing the boundaries of RFID technology by offering to implant tiny RFID chips—the size of a grain of rice—into its employees’ hands between the thumb and forefinger.

The chip would allow employees to not only buy snacks in the break room but also have their hands function as a mobile key to gain access to the building and other doors, which makes me think of the possible applications/ramifications within security.

Implanting chips in employee’s hands is already being done in Sweden, where an organization named Epicenter is having success with an increasing number of employees there opting to get the implant. Here in the U.S., Three Square Market says it has approximately 50 employees who are interested in getting the implant, and unlike in Sweden, the company is paying for the $300 procedure for its employees. Three Square Market partnered with a Swedish firm, BioHax International, to make the chip and is planning to sell the technology to other companies.

"Eventually, this technology will become standardized, allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.," chief executive Todd Westby wrote in a blog post announcing the program, noting that there is even potential for storing medical/health information, and for use as payment at other RFID terminals.

But one has to wonder what security vulnerabilities this could create, especially in protecting the data on that chip from being hacked, stolen and/or compromised, etc. Not to mention, the “creepy” factor here, as mass adoption of microchip implants is dubious, at best.

Maybe some day, like in the year 2112, but in the short term, I do think there is good fodder here for a futuristic sci-fi movie.

HENDERSON, Nev.—Recently, I-View Now announced a new integration with Eagle Eye Networks. I got the chance to catch up with I-View Now president Larry Folsom to hear a bit about this partnership and how it works.

“The I-View Now integration with Eagle Eye Networks is a cloud to cloud integration,” Folsom said in an email interview. “We appreciate the architecture in that it is a smart appliance that can be used with inexpensive or expensive cameras depending on the opportunity and requirements. We think this is important for scale (as opposed to cloud systems that require expensive cameras). We found the Eagle Eye Networks APIs to be robust and well thought out.”

Folsom discussed how the partnership will benefit I-View Now’s customers.

“We believe this is another great video partner for our dealers and central stations to utilize while protecting their customers,” Folsom said. “It is import to see that the Eagle Eye Networks video will work with all I-View Now compatible signaling integrations (security systems) and will play in the same universal player for operators, end users, and law enforcement.”

Folsom noted that I-View Now has had a busy year; it partnered with COPS Monitoring and earlier this year announced that cameras from Bosch, OpenEye and Hikvision can now come I-View Now Ready. “We currently have a backlog but we are working our way through it and have been actively hiring engineers to build out the team to support the demand,” he said.

When asked what the company is currently working on, Folsom pointed to the company’s work with Digital Barriers, announced in early June.

“This integration is fun because every clip we produce will be processed with the video analytic,” said Folsom. “The process will add intelligence (percent of likelihood of a person) to all of our existing video integrations to reduce false alarms and add bounding boxes so the agent and the end user can see where the changes occurred.”